Chapter 43: Peering from Outside the Camp

Early morning.

Kana crawled out of his tent.

He stretched against the morning breeze.

It had to be said, camping in the wild was far inferior to resting in a town.

However, it was much better than the journey he had taken when he first crossed over, fleeing all the way to this place.

The camp was already a hive of activity.

The dozens of laborers he had recruited had already been assigned to the surrounding area to begin felling trees.

Suitable trees would be used to construct large rafts, while the leftover scraps would be used to build a perimeter wall for the camp and erect two watchtowers.

Kana looked at his fully recovered mana.

Impatiently, he took the Alchemical Shield out of his spatial waist pouch.

Looking at the small round shield in his hand, he proceeded directly with "Datafication."

Mana instantly surged from his body, flowing through his palms to cover the round shield.

"Hmm, the consumption has doubled?"

Kana felt that the mana consumed from his body was twice as much as his previous datafication sessions.

Based on his earlier hypothesis, he could basically confirm that the Alchemical Round Shield in his hand was an item above the ordinary grade.

After the datafication was complete, he had only a pitiful two points of mana remaining.

However, the mana concentration here was high; if he didn't use any mana today, he should be able to recover completely by tomorrow.

He turned his attention back to the shield.

【Deformable Alchemical Shield】

【Silver Shield—Shield—Magic】

【Attributes: Resilient, Lightweight, Magic-Resistant】

【Special Effects: Deformation, Shock Reflection】

【Deformation: By infusing mana, the shape of the shield's surface can change according to the user's will.】

【Shock Reflection: By infusing mana, the user can perform a shock reflection against incoming attacks. The higher the intensity of the attack, the more mana is required; there is a limit.】

【Evaluation: An ancient alchemical product. While quite good, it is, after all, an antique. It might be more valuable as a collector's item than for use on a battlefield.】

Kana automatically ignored the evaluation; what he needed now was practicality.

And just as he expected, this equipment was indeed a magic item, one grade higher than ordinary equipment.

This also directly caused his datafication mana consumption to double.

Kana strapped the shield onto his left hand; the structure beneath the shield instantly contracted automatically, locking firmly onto his hand.

He controlled his mana and infused it into the shield.

The surface of the shield immediately changed, transforming from a round shield into a kite shield, and finally becoming long and slender, covering his entire arm.

Kana was very satisfied. One shouldn't underestimate this "Deformation."

Similar equipment existed in games, and of course, they were much better than this antique in Kana's hand.

But essentially, there was no difference.

Following his will, a portion of the shield formed a sharp spike extending from the back of Kana's hand.

It could serve as a temporary weapon.

Of course, what he would actually use was the second skill—the parry, which players frequently used and were very familiar with.

And it was a "Shock Parry." When an enemy's weapon struck, he would infuse mana and use proper parrying techniques. He could even use the shock to knock the enemy's weapon straight out of their hands, disarming them.

Furthermore, the shield had another function: the extra entry in its attribute column.

Magic Resistance. The metal used in its construction possessed a certain degree of magic resistance, allowing it to effectively defend against low-level elemental magic.

Regardless, this shield could definitely be called a top-tier existence within its grade; it was extremely practical.

Kana had originally intended to continue using mana to datafy the spherical puppet, but it seemed that wouldn't be possible today.

He looked up.

He saw Alis and Bobot not far away.

Bobot seemed to be studying the surrounding vegetation, chatting with Alis from time to time.

Seeing this, Kana did not disturb them. He took out his experimental manual from his spatial waist pouch and began exercising around the camp while reading.

He was only 30 experience points away from reaching Level 3. With some effort, he should be able to break through within the next day or two.

When that happened, he would directly gain 5 attribute points, which would be incredibly satisfying.

He would also take the opportunity to study the experimental manual so that he could acquire a new skill; otherwise, it would be awkward if he datafied the spherical puppet but couldn't control it.

Regarding the Prince's strange behavior, the surrounding soldiers and townsfolk took a glance, exchanged a few odd remarks, and then paid it no mind.

...

In the afternoon, Kana was by the river, performing a simple cleaning to wash away the sweat from his intense training.

Alis walked up quickly, leading George.

"What's wrong?" Kana stood up and shook the water off his hands.

George said hurriedly, "There is a creature spying on the camp."

Hearing this, Kana frowned. "What kind of creature?"

To his surprise, George shook his head. "We found its tracks and saw its blurry silhouette from a distance, but we couldn't see clearly what it was. It might be some kind of animal."

George was a keen learner. Through yesterday's conversation, he knew that this area might be different from the forests where he often hunted.

To use the words of that giant white rat, this place was much more dangerous and filled with many strange creatures.

In the past, George would have certainly assumed it was just an animal, but having seen things like Ratmen, he no longer dared to be so certain.

"Has Bobot gone to check?"

Compared to their eyesight, Bobot, who had traveled on foot across various regions, would know more.

Alis said from the side, "Bobot has already gone to look."

Kana nodded and stood up, asking the two to lead him there.

As they entered the woods, they hadn't walked far before they saw several soldiers returning with Bobot.

Seeing Bobot's frowning expression, Kana asked, "Did you find anything?"

Bobot looked up, saw Kana approaching, and nodded. "Yes. It's basically certain that it's definitely not an ordinary animal, nor is it likely to be a magic beast. Although mana has recovered quite a bit here, it is still a bit too barren for those magic beasts. It might be some kind of evil creature of the forest."

"An evil creature?" Kana frowned.

That definition was too broad.

A vast majority of the dangerous creatures in the wild could be categorized under that lineage.

For example, Kobolds, Goblins, Forest Sprites, Harpies... and so on.

Most were regulars in fantasy worlds.

Due to the Creation Stone of this world, all sorts of flamboyant things existed.

"The scope is too wide."

Bobot knew this as well and narrowed it down: "It can be confirmed to be some kind of small, bipedal, upright creature about the same height as Bobot. It's definitely heavier than a rat. They said they also saw glowing green eyes, and it seemed to be wearing camouflage made of leaves."

Hearing Bobot's summarized intelligence, Kana frowned in thought. He had a general idea of the range.

Combining this with the area and his knowledge of it, he could basically be certain.

"If nothing goes wrong, it should be Goblins."

"Goblins?" Bobot was somewhat confused.

The others nearby also showed expressions of curiosity; they had never heard of such a name.

"You don't know?" Kana was puzzled; it was unlikely that Bobot wouldn't know of such a thing.

"I know of them, but I haven't seen many. And they shouldn't have green eyes, right?" Bobot raised his doubt.

Only then did Kana remember that Bobot was not a native of this continent and had only just arrived here.

Although Goblins were distributed across every continent, they were primarily distributed on the continent beneath their feet.

They were the common wild monsters one would frequently encounter in the wilderness of this continent.

The characteristic of Goblins on this continent was that they had green eyes.